Effort: Climbing and skiing the Middle Teton’s glacier route in August

Unaware of how commonly backcountry skiers count their Aspen Extreme wiggle turns, “How many turns did ya git?” surprised me as the most frequent question while hiking to the Middle Teton. “Oh, ya gon’ skiin’?” was even more unexpected, considering I was hiking a trail, which lead to a glacier, with my skis and ski boots strapped to my pack. Even if it was 80 degrees and everyone else in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park was wearing shorts, I really thought skis were a giveaway that I was, indeed, planning to ski.

We slept in the trunk of the car at the trailhead and awoke every half hour as climbers’ headlamps passed, starting at midnight. Our 4:38 a.m. wakeup didn’t beg for breakfast, and we watched the sun rise from 2,000 feet above the valley floor. Four hours and 5,000 vertical later, at the toe of the glacier, uncomfortable ski boots reminded my feet of the wintertime misery a skier’s foot endures, as I was swiftly forced to remember how to jump over bottomless crevasses without tripping on the points of my crampons.

The couloir steepened and I wished for waterproof gloves and something other than a tank top. In my car sat warm gloves and in my backpack was my jacket, but in this terrain it was more dangerous to retrieve than to forego. The top of the glacier neared, my breathing became heavier, “I’d rather be barbequing at a pool” repeated in my head, and suddenly there was no more snow to climb. Pulling my soaked gloves off, my frozen hands clumsily found their way into my trail socks and then between my squeezed legs as I bent at the waist and bounced at the ankles, screaming between clenched teeth. This style of discomfort isn’t supposed to happen in August.

Stats in 11:

1 hiking buddy2 hours climbing on glacier3 ice axe implements4 close encounters with falling rocks5 bites of food6 round-trip hours to run the Grand Teton the day before7 crevasses crossed on skis8 one-way miles to base of glacier9 minutes of actual skiing10 consecutive months of skiing11 hours hiking

The skiing was a blender of jump turns and splash turns, slough avoidance and crevasse avoidance, steep ice, deep slush and water runoffs. Slashing the water runnels and running into the rocky moraine at the bottom, I laughed at the thought that eight miles still separated me from the car.

Heinous skiing on the Middle Teton’s glacier route in August. From Brody Leven on Vimeo.

About the Author

Brody Leven

Brody Leven has never eaten meat. His finger was sewn back onto his hand after cutting it off with a ski's edge. He has ridden his bicycle across the USA and has been detained for travel infractions on three continents. He is a professional skier and writer with a soft spot for steep mountains.